Weird but TRUE!

[Cableguy]

What's the one thing you'd expect car thieves to take besides your vehicle itself?

A stereo system, your cell phone, maybe something out of your glove compartment.

But your catalytic converter?

Chances are most drivers don't even know where the device, which helps control emissions, is on their automobiles.

But crooks do.

It turns out the piece of equipment that sits out of sight on your car contains ingredients that are becoming increasingly valuable on the black market. And it's incredibly easy to steal.

"All it takes is a sawzall with a metal blade, a couple of quick cuts and it's out," explains Cam Young, a mechanic at Cam's Auto Service. "Less than two minutes."

And it's a growing crime. One Brampton auto shop recently lost $1 million worth of catalytic converters.

What's the big attraction? It's what inside that counts.

Catalytic converters contain expensive precious metals like platinum - which is worth up to $1,200 an ounce; palladium, which can fetch $320 an ounce and rhodium, the biggest prize of all. It goes for up to $6,000 an ounce on the market.

The fact so many are disappearing doesn't shock Young. "With the price of the scrap, the value of the part, how easy it is to steal, I'm not surprised at all."

Ironically, replacing a converter will only run you about $300. But to a thief, all those separate parts are as good as gold.

"It's not just warehouse thefts we're hearing about," relates P.C. Sean Piper of Peel Regional Police. "We're actually having small cases of public parking lots, vehicles that are being left in GO stations."

You can't lock them down and you can't really stop a determined thief from making off with it. So what can you do to protect yourself?

Try to park in a safe and secure place, where a stranger with a saw would be instantly suspect. And when possible, keep your car in your garage instead of on your driveway.

From Local Toronto news station

[KD7ONE]

I don't know why, but it reminds me of the time a thief couldn't steal my bike because of a Kryptonite lock. He stole my pedals instead

[Steve]

Hmm, well in town they've done stories on the different copper pipes that have been stolen around town because of the cost of copper.

All I can say is get a job and become productive member of society!

[TrailLeadr]

That's actually not anything new. My father used to tell me how when they first started putting cats on vehicles people would try to scavenge them from the bone yards. People have been stealing them for years. Only difference now, is that you can get your hands on a battery operated sawzall very easily.

I agree Steve. "Get a job ya bums!"

[Cableguy]

That's actually not anything new. My father used to tell me how when they first started putting cats on vehicles people would try to scavenge them from the bone yards. People have been stealing them for years. Only difference now, is that you can get your hands on a battery operated sawzall very easily.

I agree Steve. "Get a job ya bums!"

Ya no kidding ,eh. I know where there is a half abandon BURB

[TrailLeadr]

Ya no kidding ,eh. I know where there is a half abandon BURB

You wouldn't cover the cost in fuel used by stealing mine.

[Cableguy]

Hmm, well in town they've done stories on the different copper pipes that have been stolen around town because of the cost of copper.

All I can say is get a job and become productive member of society!

About a year back we had people stealing copper wire. I had a fibre optic outage to respond to. When I got there there was a section of fibre optic cut off pole. They probably wondered what the weird glass tubes were.
BTW our transmitters put out 1550 nm of light, thats enough to cause instant blindness.

[TrailLeadr]

About a year back we had people stealing copper wire. I had a fibre optic outage to respond to. When I got there there was a section of fibre optic cut off pole. They probably wondered what the weird glass tubes were.
BTW our transmitters put out 1550 nm of light, thats enough to cause instant blindness.

I'd love to see that crime go down.

The guy falls off the pole from being blinded.

[retired2001]

I remember a story on the "news" a few years back about a school that had to replace all the seats in the football stadium because someone had stolen all the aluminum seats! If it is worth one person buying it, it worth someone else stealing it!